good saturday afternoon. here's what's happening right now. egypt in crisis. a gun battle erupts out of a cairo mosque. protesters run as security forces clear the building. we're live with u.s. reaction. as that country tips closer to civil war. stop, question, frisk have made new york city the safest big city in america. >> the notion the nypd engages in racial profiling is simply wrecklessly untrue. >> a federal judge disagreed. the federal judge rules new york

city's stop-and-frisk policy is unconstitutional. that judge orders an overhaul. the city is fighting back. what's next? >> i want you to have this. this is really a gift from my brother so i want you to have this and use it how you want. >> and the brother's last wish. the man traveling coast to coast giving away hundreds of dollars tloo unsuspecting folks. it's today's big idea. we'll get to all those stories in just a moment, but we start on the saturday afternoon in egypt. one of the few countries in the middle east dubbed america's friend for decades now stands on the brink of a civil war. its relationship with the united states is in question. its chances for peace are grim. after 72 hours of violence and bloodshed in egypt we are keeping a live eye on a mosque. a mosque in cairo where supporters of the ousted muslim brotherhood have been holed up.

the egyptian military is using bullets and tear gas to pry them out and that scene follows one of the bloodiest in egypt's modern history. nearly 800 killed in three days of violence and protests the brotherhood fighting to be heard. egypt's military fighting to keep them out of power. we have learned this morning that the brother of the al qaeda chief al zawahiri was arrested. in fact the military arrested more than a thousand supporters of the muslim brotherhood this week alone. we go live to martha's vineyard where president obama continues his vacation. any sign from the administration of what they will or even perhaps what they will not do next? >> well, craig, good afternoon. the administration at this point is not signaling any major shift in policy when it comes to egypt. we know that president obama has been briefed daily by his national security adviser susan rice, who is vacationing here on martha's vineyard with him. and of course this past week

president obama announced that he would be canceling joint military operations between the u.s. and egypt that were scheduled to take place next month. this was a strong, symbolic rebuke to military for their inability to really get this situation under control in egypt and to get the unrest under control in egypt. but what the administration has not announced is that they will be withholding or withdrawing that $1.3 billion in military aid that they give to egypt every year, and that is really the united states' largest point of leverage at this point in time. it is a complicated situation, craig, of course, egypt is a key partner and ally with the u.s. in a region that is already unstable, so that is one of the things that makes making that decision so difficult. the other part of this is that it's not clear what the impact would be if the u.s. were to decide to withdraw that $1.3 billion in aid in part because it wouldn't kick in until next year. and also because other countries

also fund egypt. so those are some of the ideas the administration is weighing. we do know they are reviewing the aid. they are reviewing that policy. but at this point in time no indication they are planning to actually make a move and of course there are calls on both sides of the aisle, craig, for the administration to take a tougher stance, democrats and republicans urging the administration to determine that what happened in egypt is a coup and calling on them to withhold that aid. craig? >> kristen welker, thank you so much. the fallout from egypt's unrest could be felt around the world. joining me now from washington to talk about the implication is jonathan allen senior washington correspondent for politico, julie mason, host of the press pool on sirius xm. here in the studio steven clemmons washington editor at large for the atlantic. big thanks to all of you for being with me on a saturday. i want to start with you here, steven, because we just heard from kristen about egypt. one of our best friends in that region for decades now. for john q. six-pack at home

watching right now, explain in the simplest of terms why this matters, why this is so important for america. >> because egypt is an 80 million person country that's one of the true states that's been around for thousands of years. when you think about history, it sets the temperature for the middle east, north africa region. it is a vital ally in terms of our relationship with israel and in terms of having been a traditional anchor of stability that supported u.s. interests in the region. so we are in a situation now where the government has taken abhorrent steps, killed nearly a thousa people, injured many thousands more, and we're in a knot and trying to figure out how do you not lose this ally we need but it's the same time send a very strong signal that what general al assisi just did is as over the line as anything we've ever seen from an ally. >> the president has got criticism from all sides since he spoke out thursday on vacation there at martha's vineyard condemning egypt but

not withholding aid. conservative rand paul said the president's stance appears weak. democratic senator leahy chairman of the appropriations committee threatening to cut off funding to egypt. is the president missing an opportunity to use leverage or does he just not have as much leverage as people think over the military in egypt? >> well, $1.2 billion, all this hand wringing in congress, it is a fraction of what other countries are giving egypt. it is one of our only points of leverage. the president is in an incredibly tough spot. pressure from congress isn't going to make a difference. their position is not changing. this is an important ally. they don't want to make the situation worse. take our hand out of the region in that way. they're just going to continue to stand by. >> jonathan, you wrote a post for politico immediately after the president's remarks thursday. you wrote in part, quote, he has chosen, he being the president,

has chosen america's interests over its values and the pragmatists in his administration over the human rights idealists while tacitly acknowledging the limitations of america's influence in stopping the bloodshed. bottom line, it is a pickle. is this one of those situations that is so complicated that a hands off approach may be the only safe option? >> i appreciate how you condensed what i wrote into five words. wish i'd thought of it. look, this is a situation where, you know, the united states has been watching the arab spring with interest. it has tried to wade in in various countries including egypt before and we have very little ability to influence what is going on in these countries. the muslim brotherhood was in power for basically a couple years. i think the united states decided it didn't think the muslim brotherhood was very capable of managing egyptian affairs and at this point the military looks like the more stable force.

you know, the president wants to make clear he doesn't believe the military should be killing civilians, that it should respect the rights to protest and assemble, but the bottom line, the united states is not going to enter this on the side of the muslim brotherhood to try to counteract the military. as far as aid to egypt goes it is sort of a separate issue. the aid is really a payment to not fight with israel. if you remove that aid, you remove that long-running agreement where the united states gives aid to israel and aid to egypt so they won't fight each other. you could cause more problems than you solve by doing that. >> a price for peace as a result of the camp david accords. steven, let's talk about general assisi the head of egypt's military right now. what do we know about him, and why have we not seen or heard from him at all this week? >> well, he's got his hands full. what we do know is that morsi, mohamed morsi thought that he

had general assisi under control and the command staff of the egyptian army under control. the egyptian army basically controls about 40% of the egyptian economy. most of those command staff we know we're making a mistake by talking so much about the $1.3 billion military aid. what we need to look at is decades of those command staff running through the national defense university, having relationships both in the intelligence and military side with our pentagon people. there are deep human relationships really at stake so general assisi is well known to americans, and i think that he has made a play from the moment that they issued the 48-hour warning to morsi. in my view they made a decision to go to war with the muslim brotherhood. i am a big fan of jonathan allen where as i am a realist and worked with richard nixon many years ago. i with argue the one point that there are many realists who say it is strategically consequential to the united states if the muslim brotherhood and its young members decide not to pursue democratic style

dwrups f groups for their aspirations. if they go back underground and take a violence track we're looking at something that has consequences not only in egypt but through the entire middle east/north africa region and it will keep us tied up in a tumultuous situation and threatening israel, threatening u.s. interests, for quite a long time. so i urge those people who think this is just about democracy and not humanitarian issues to think about how important it is to get those people back into an inclusive track. >> julie, we have seen over the past few days some pretty shocking, violent images coming out of egypt particularly during yesterday's so-called day of rage. at one point, i want to show what we can of this, but at one point we saw demonstrators actually jumping off a bridge apparently to avoid military gun fire there. do you think as we continue to see images like that, political leaders in this country will be forced to act at some point, or are we going to become

desensitized? >> i hope we never become desensitized to images like the ones you are showing. it is absolutely devastating what's happening in egypt right now. and the administration stands by impotently, unwilling or unable to do anything. they do seem completely out of ideas. the president sent john mccain and lindsay graham into the region but they went in with so much ambiguity and this is a situation that defies ambiguity. they weren't able to get much done. we've seen other countries go in. the eu went in to try to stave off this violence. that didn't work. i'm not sure what outside interests can do at this point. >> jonathan allen, julie mason, steve clemmons. again we will go live to cairo in just a bit. big thanks to all of you. harmless or hate? how the shocking appearance of a rodeo clown dressed as president obama has exposed a racial divide that still runs deep in middle america. we'll talk about that. also, weed for sick kids. new jersey governor chris christie's big decision involving medical marijuana and children.

how soon that could take effect. and find out what's making a return to the white house after 32 years. when you realize you need to switch to verizon, it's a reality check. i had my reality check when i'd be sitting there with my friends who had their verizon phones and i'd be sitting there like "mine's still loading!" i couldn't get email. i couldn't stream movies. i couldn't upload any of our music. that's when i decided to switch. now that i'm on verizon, everything moves fast. with verizon, i have that reliability. i'm completely happy with verizon. verizon's 4g lte is the most reliable and in more places than any other 4g network. period. that's powerful. verizon. get the nokia lumia 928 for free. the beach on your tv is much closer than it appears. dive into labor day with up to 50% off hotels at travelocity.

how can i help you? oh, you're real? you know i'm real! at discover, we're always here to talk. good, 'cause i don't have time for machines. some companies just don't appreciate

the power of conversation! you know, i like you! i like you too! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and talk to a real person.

that was the scene one week ago today at a state fair in se dalia, missouri. a rodeo clown dressed as president obama was cheered on by the crowd as the other clowns prodded him and played with his lips. one of the announcers asked repeatedly if they wanted to see the president, quote, run down by a bull. white house spokesman josh ernest has since said the

incident was not missouri's finest moment but just yesterday republican iowa congressman steve king tweeted this. mr. president, invite the rodeo clown to the white house for a beer summit. take the temperature down. have a laugh. relax. it's not about race. philip rutger of "the washington post" actually traveled to missouri this week to cover the fall out from the incident or perhaps maybe i should say lack thereof. phil, good to see you again, sir. >> hi. glad to be here. >> one fair goer told you, quote, it was just a fun guy making fun of the president like everyone else does. whether he's black, white, green, or purple he's the president and he's got to know when he goes in that position people are going to make fun of him. is that the sentiment that essentially represents what you heard on the ground there in missouri? >> absolutely. you know, i went there wednesday to spend a day and hear what people had to say and i interviewed about a dozen people and that was universally the sentiment. nobody i talked to felt that rodeo act was disrespectful or

inappropriate. >> not one person? >> not one person at the rodeo. one gentleman who was at the rodeo that saturday night was so outraged by it he videotaped it and that's what has spawned this sort of national outrage we've seen. >> there was another farmer that you talked to there named virgil henke and he told you in part, talking about the president here, he's destroyed this country. how much freedom have we lost? i don't care whether it's a black man in office, but we have to have a true-blooded american. i think he's muslim. i think he's trying to destroy the country catering to the muslim brotherhood in egypt. philip, we know that's nutty. we know it's not true. but i wanted to highlight that statement because he is expressing a sentiment that you still see and hear and read about from time to time. is there a great chasm that exists between the perception of the president in places like d.c. and new york and boston and in the real america?

absolutely. here in washington you don't hear anybody say that. what this gentleman said is plainly untrue and yet five years after obama's -- into obama's presidency the opposition to him is even more deeply entrenched and there is not any kind of recognition he is a legitimate commander-in-chief. it is just some of the comments you hear are pretty outrageous. >> again, i think you said there was just the one person that you talked to who was bothered by the incident is that right? >> that's right. his name is perry. he is the one who videotaped the incident and that is the recording that we've seen. >> what else did you learn about that event that wasn't captiure on the grainy youtube video? >> there were mullet pr people involved. the most telling part of the event was it was a large rodeo arena, standing room only i was told, and the crowd was hooting and hollering and there was a lot of enthusiasm and energy kind of cheering this on. this gentleman perry said it felt like a kkk rally. he felt that kind of anger and

intensity in the crowd. that's what people found most disturbing. >> we should note that the said clown has been banned from all state fairs in missouri. >> right. and the announcer has resigned from the state rodeo board. >> philip rutger, "the washington post", always a pleasure. thank you. >> thank you. english majors across the world are up in arms literally up in arms over the oxford english dictionary's decision to literally change the definition of literally. follow me here. as well as meaning in a literal manner or sense, like the driver took it literally when asked to go straight over the traffic circle, literally can now be used to acknowledge something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling. it seems literally has become the most misused word in the english language now and rather than fight it experts have decided to acknowledge the word's dual definition. you are right now literally watching msnbc. with the spark cash card

from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. told you i'd get half. what's in your wallet?

empowered by pizza ad prompted alaska's democratic senator mark ben ichy to ask why dominos is hating on halibut. he sent the ceo some fillet and in an open letter called halibut, quote, a staple in alaskans' diet and bed robak of alaska's coastal economy. the dominos ceo tweeted a response. thanks again. usually it's pizza for friday lun lunch. today alaskan halibut.

it's ofishal. i love it. he is posing with a a fork full of the delicacy. while president obama is on vacation the white house is getting a new addition. solar panels. something the obama administration pledged to do back in october, 2010. believe it or not solar panels have graced the white house roof in the past. it was president jimmy carter who had 32 of them installed in the late '70s. it was president ronald reagan who had them removed in 1986. and this week john oliver wrapped up his stretch of the daily show having filled in of course for john stuart and he wanted to say a special thank you to one person in particular. >> i just want to personally say a big thank you tonight because some people have gone above and beyond to make my job so much easier this summer than it could have been and one in particular. i'm talking of course about anthony weiner. or should i say carlos danger?

keeping our eye on cairo where the violence continues to escalate there. earlier today gun battles erupted outside a mosque where hundreds of muslim brotherhood supporters are holed up. it is just the latest development in 72 hours of bloodshed there that's left nearly 800 people dead. we will have a live report from cairo coming up at the top of the hour. welcome back. i'm craig melvin. here is a quick look at some of the other top stories making news on a saturday. a massive wildfire spreading in idaho has forced the evacuation of at least 1600 homes so far. the fire has ripped through 92,000 acres to give you some perspective. that's about the size of detroit. more than 800 firefighters are trying to get that thing under control but it is showing no

signs of slowing down at this point. strong winds and low humidity are keeping those flames burning and creating a risk for even more wildfires to break out. meanwhile in new jersey medical marijuana for kids. governor chris christie said yesterday that he supports giving chronically ill children easier access to medical marijuana, but christie still wants some restrictions. he says psychiatrists and pediatricians should have to sign off before children are given the drug. new york city is now appealing a federal judge's ruling that the nypd stop-and-frisk policies are unconstitutional. the city claims stop and frisk is not based on racial profiling and it's also responsible essentially for the city's drop in crime. but according to the court's ruling the numbers tell the sto story. blacks and hispanics accounted for more than 80% of the nearly 4.5 million stops conducted over the last eight years.

last year alone the new yorkers were stopped nearly 633,000 times. of those 89%, nearly 90% were innocent of a crime. 10% of those who were stopped were white. 32% were latino. 55% were black. our guest is a contributing writer for new yorker.com and darius charony is senior staff attorney for center for constitutional rights and represented the plaintiffs in the case against the city. darius, first of all, what was the reaction from your clients after the ruling? >> they were very gratified and felt very vindicated. for years this has been going on in the city and communities of color around new york. this is not news. this is their experience for more than a decade for years. so to have a federal judge vindicate what you've been saying and say that, you know, what you've been saying is true, this is racially discriminatory, a violation of your

constitutional rights, we were very gratified. >> from a legal perspective here the city filing that appeal on friday. the city is also asking the judge to essentially delay implementation of the ruling. what happens next? >> they actually have not asked for the court to delay the implementation. they haven't asked for one yet. they may do that. we don't know. i think it's quite disappointing that the administration did this because they've really been presented with i think an historic opportunity to make meaningful change to the way they police the streets of the city and to really protect the interests of all new yorkers. and, i mean, all that the judge really ordered them to do was engage in a process. sit down with not only us but other stakeholders and figure out ways to remedy the situation. and they apparently are not interested in doing that. >> even after the ruling, new york's mayor michael bloomberg defended the policy. said there was no racial profiling involved. i want to play a snippet of what he said and then talk about it on the other side.

here it is. >> we go to where the reports of crime are. those, unfortunately, happened to be poor neighborhoods and minority neighborhoods. but that's not the original objective or intent or how we get there. we get there when there's a crime reported. and we will continue to do that. >> so what's wrong with what he said? what's wrong with, let me play devil's advocate here. what's wrong with the city putting more police resources in minority communities? >> well, let's start first, what he said wasn't true, that people who are more likely to be stopped even in low crime, even mostly white neighborhoods are people are color. so this is they're not simply following where crime is but where black and brown people are and taking them to be a vector or predictor of crime. that is the first part of it. the second part is that there is a certain element of dignity and respect that is required for people who are citizens regardless of what community they live in. if they live in a high crime

neighborhood stopping crime doesn't simply mean you have carte blanche to treat everyone in the community as a criminal. and that's why. generally they made the point they'd save some 7500 lives and so on. generally when you save someone's life they are grateful. save someone's life in such a way as they become offended by it you should really question the efficacy of the policy. >> we could also have another conversation about the crime in this country and some of the causes of that. there are those who would say it is not necessarily stop-and-frisk that's led to a drop in crime all over america. ray kelly, new york police commissioner, also defending the policy. he is actually going to appear on meet the press tomorrow. we have an advanced copy of a snippet of that interview. i want to play what he said and get your take on the other side. >> nobody wants to be stopped. at the very least you're giving up your time. but we need some balance here. the stark reality is that violence is happening

disproportionately in minority communities and that, unfortunately, is in big cities throughout america. we have record low numbers of murders in new york city, record low numbers of shootings. we're doing something right to save lives. >> why do new york's -- new york city's leaders seem unwilling to even compromise on the approach to this? why do you think that is? >> i mean, if i knew the answer to that we probably would have resolved this case five years ago. it's just really disappointing to me that in the face of not only a federal court ruling but, you know, outcry from thousands of people in the city. there have been marches over the past few years. you have overwhelming majority of the city council voting to reign in this policy. and yet in the face of those complaints the administration continues to just say we've done nothing wrong. again, they are not being told that they can't do stop and

frisk anymore but told they have to do it legally and in a fair way. >> one of the approaches, and this is suggested by the judge, is for police to wear essentially a body camera to record any interaction between police and community members they might stop. would that do anything to help soothe fears in the community about profiling? >> i think the judge pointed out that in the president that tried this in california they had a precipitous drop in community complaints. at the very least it is responsible policing. if there is nothing being done wrong what is the problem? at the very best police will be able to have more sympathy for what it feels like to be always being watched. >> i assume there was no conversation with new york city officials about trying this body cam approach for a while thncht is something the judge came up

with on her own, not something we asked for and the city didn't ask for it. i think it is a very interesting idea. she wants to -- it to be tried in five precincts for a year to see how it works. that is a very reasonable approach. >> the judge's ruling makes reference to the killing of trayvon martin by george zimmerman. you wrote about that in the new yorker. this is part of what you wrote. the judge's references point to the complex and contested fact that unchecked racial preassumptions have consequences, sometimes disastrous consequences. in the worst of outcomes, a policy rooted in the fear of crime, can produce outcomes indistinguishable from crime, itself. you contend there is something of a feedback loop going on here. what is that? explain that. >> well, one of the most insightful things in that decision was the judge said if you begin with presumption that someone is a criminal or a group of people are criminal then you're going to police them more heavily and you'll wind up replicating the idea that you

find people in that population and say, oh, well this is not why you stopped them but you found some other reason why they could be arrested. so we've seen, unfortunately, a disproportionate number of african-american and brown and black young men who dotted the hands of police in brutality. pointed out elsewhere the same month president obama was naugtd three black men unarmed were shot by police in the united states. these are not simply happenstance. these are things i thought the judge was really insightful in pointing to in her ruling. >> newark, new jersey has its own version of stop and frisk. i'm sure both of you are familiar with it. newark releases monthly statistics on how it stops, also releases monthly numbers on who it arrests as well. statistics for july show that 2100 people were stopped by police in newark. 1500 of them were black. newark's reports do not list the reason for the stops we should note. does even some transparency,

some transparency make a difference in the public's eye when it comes to stop and frisk? >> absolutely. because, you know, one of the things that has been really a constant problem throughout this fight over stop and frisk is it took years for the police department to even release data on it. and i think that just tells the public that they're trying to hide something. if they're doing everything by the book and doing things fairly and legally, they should want to put this data out because it'll just support what they've been saying. so i'm always for more transparency. >> i want to talk about something that happened yesterday in new york city. mayor bloomberg, once again, drawing the ire of not just folks in the minority community but folks who appreciate privacy to a certain extent. with this proposal for mandatory fingerprinting for all public housing residents. it caught a lot of folks by surprise. first of all is your group considering legal action? >> he just announced it yesterday. we haven't talked about it. but it is definitely something

we're against. >> what is at work here? help me understand this. as i was saying before the broadcast, you would think that, you know, mayor bloomberg would have someone in his ear who might at least say, you know what, mayor? maybe this isn't the best time for this. maybe we should at least wait for a few months to talk about something like this. >> what i think is that we are in a point where we really don't have a fourth amendment anymore. we pretend as if we do. we proceed as if we do. and you know at various points in history one part of the constitution will have more weight than others. you know, the second amendment has the weight of a biblical commandment right now but the fourth amendment has all but been eviscerated and is not different from our concerns about the nsa. it is not different from our concerns about the racial profiling. and now the idea that simply because of someone's class status which is what we're talking about here means you should be fingerprinted and that, just saying we want to do this for the record, we want to do this to prevent crime. he is making a presumption poor

people should be kept as a kind of preemptive device so we know eventually you will commit crime and we'll have you on the record then. so it goes against the presumption of innocence. it goes against the 4th amendment and is really stunning he was able to stand up and make that statement. >> my guests, a big thanks to both of you for being with me. don't forget new york police commissioner ray kelly will be david gregory's guest tomorrow on nbc's "meet the press." check your local listings. a witness to history. the fight for civil rights told through the eyes of a black butler in the white house. we are going to talk to the journalist whose reporting inspired the movie and best selling book. >> wow. amazing. thank you so much. >> and we'll also introduce you to the man who is living out his brother's dying wish. why he's raising money and giving away the cash lots of it

to unsuspecting folks all over this country. his name is seth collins. there he is right there. he'll join us live. it's today's big idea. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. nobody likes to miss out. that's why ally treats all their customers the same. whether you're the first or the millionth. if your bank doesn't think you're special anymore, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards.

choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button? that was seth collins giving a nearly 1,000% tip. he hopes to leave a similar tip for unsuspecting servers in every state in this country. it's today's big idea. it comes from aaron, seth's younger brother, whose dying wish written in his will was for his family to go out to eat and, quote, his words, not mine, leave an awesome tip and i don't mean 25%.

i mean $500 on a pizza for a waiter or waitress. aaron died in july last year. now seth collins is honoring his brother's memory by carrying out his dying wish. he joins us now from denver, colorado. good to see you, sir. >> thanks for having me. >> let's forecast abotalk about this amazing thing you're doing but why you think this was your brother's dying wish. >> well, he always had this real appreciation for the service industry even when he was a little kid maybe 12 years old. if my parents didn't leave what he thought was a big enough tip, he would toss a couple dollars from his allowance on the table. >> what was that, any idea what that was born from, that sort of empathy? >> no. it's something he always had and i know there was a waitress also later on that was having a bad first day and told him she might quit her job and he left her a

$50 tip and a note that said, don't give up. so it's something that's always been a part of who he was. >> you are well into your trip at this point i understand. i want to take a look at a map that shows precisely how many states you visited so far. at this point any idea how many tips you've left to date and how much money you've shelled out? >> yeah. i mean, from the very start of this, i've done 66 tips. from the beginning of the road trip itself, 16. but i've given away $33,000. >> that's a lot of money. where does that money come from? >> that money has been after the very first one which we raised from friends and family all the rest has been from random donations from total strangers all around the world. >> people hear about what you're doing and they want to get involved and help. >> yeah. they, from the start, after people saw the first video, they told me, we want to see this

happen again and again. thankfully, they've supported us and kept donating from that very first day. >> and you leave a note with every tip as well i understand. what do those notes say? >> well, the note is a re-creation of the very first note i left. the first waitress i just didn't know what to expect, how it would go if i'd get to talk to her. so i wanted to explain a little bit about aaron and his last wish just in case i didn't get to do it in person. so she told me that she had kept that. you know, it's been over a year, and she keeps it and she'll never get rid of it. i wanted the other waiters and waitresses to have that, too. >> the reaction we just saw a few moments ago, is that fairly typical? is that how people respond when you give them 500 bucks on a $50 meal? >> it varies a little bit, but there's that moment of disbelief. most people think either they're crazy or i'm crazy or it's a joke or a game or a prank of some kind. it's very rare that people are

willing to just accept that a total stranger is going to hand them $500. >> there are also stories now of recipients paying their tip forward. one man in minneapolis giving a hundred dollars each to the cook, to the bartender, and two other servers. are you surprised that this is starting to take on a life of its own? >> no, i'm really not. i think from the beginning i don't think it's about the money. i don't think for these people a lot of them anyway that it's about the money. it's about that sentiment and that desire to do something kind for a stranger and i think that once someone has been touched by that it's something that stays with them for the rest of their life far beyond the money. so i am happy and thankful they want to share it with other people. >> what is the next stop? >> the next stop is salt lake city, utah. >> salt lake city. salt lake city, utah. >> yes. >> we've put a map, we put excuse me a schedule up of your road trip so that all of the

servers in those areas can be on notice. seth collins, big thanks you to, sir. today's big idea. keep it up. >> thanks, you, too. >> if you're watching or listening right now and you have a big idea making a difference all you have to do to tell us about it is shoot us an e-mail. there is the address right there on your screen. big idea.msnbc@nbcuni.com. football rocks out. legendary band kiss has apparently bought a california arena football team based in naim. the team will be called, no surprise here, l.a. kiss. the los angeles area has not had any kind of football team since 2009 when its two previous nfl teams both left the city. the union is prompting some people to say that it's a marriage made in i-black heaven. [announcer] there's no hiding the goodness of the latest from

beneful baked delights. new heartfuls are made with real bacon... ...and oven-baked to crisp perfection. add a soft apple-flavored center ...and say no more. new heartfuls from beneful baked delights. spark more play in your day. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen.

"stubborn love" by the lumineers did you i did. email? so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go. bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it. i love it too. here's our new house... daddy! you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen.

they've been called the facebook generation. 20 million teenagers under the age of 18 who have grown up with and on the world's largest social network. but are they abandoning their digital playground? here's kristin dahlgren. >> twitter, tumblr, snap chat. when it comes to facebook -- >> none of my friends really use facebook. >> it's useless without friends. >> useless? facebook? you heard her right. ruby says her friends just aren't that into it. >> i think facebook is a great site but it doesn't have the really like easy design. there's a lot going on and that's like not as appealing to kids my age. >> she's causing quite a stir with her online mashable op ed.

i'm 13 and none of my friends use facebook. >> i think facebook from my experience, they need to try a little less hard. >> ouch! and get ready for this blow. >> i think it is for adults. >> adults, you know what that means? goodbye cool factor. >> once our parents get off facebook, we'll get on facebook. >> well, staff writer, covering technology for slate.com is here. he is also, we should note on facebook as well. you wrote a rebuttal to ruby's piece there. in that rebuttal you basically say, the teenagers aren't leaving facebook. when it comes to social networks, the ascendant paradigm for forecasting the future seem to center on first person anecdotes and unsupported hearsay from teenagers. you went after her pretty hard in your little piece. >> i knew i would get some flak

from that. >> what else is wrong with her argument? >> i think ruby is almost certainly right that facebook is not cool anymore. but i don't think that matters as much as everyone seems to think. facebook isn't cool because it is huge. in order for something to be cool, there has to be an element of exclusivity. that's not there anymore. her parents are on, her grandparents are on. but the data shows kids are not leaving facebook despite the anecdotes. >> so it is massive. is that all that makes it not as hip as it once was? or are there other things? >> that's a big thing. the fact that everybody is on it is the biggest differentiating factor between facebook and other services. that's why it is not really in danger of falling as fast as, say, myspace did five years ago. you look at my space at its peak. it had over 100 million users. facebook has over a billion. if you want to have a place that you and your young friends can hang out and stalk each other and chat out of the eye of your

parents, you might use a new service, twitter, snap chat or keek. >> what is that? >> i just looked it up. a video site. a bunch of celebs followed by teens. >> i would like to know what the cool kids are doing. i'm not one of them so i would lick to at least pretend. i want to call your attention to one study. this pugh study on online behavior specifically among teenagers. it found that there are three page reasons that teenagers leave facebook. increasing adult presence. people sharing too much. and negative social interactions. has the bullying that started at school, is that now one of the reasons kids are leaving facebook as well in. >> i think facebook does lend itself to bullying somewhat just by the nature of the platform. you have a page out there that's about you that other people can comment on. and everybody can see it. it is hard to find from a nasty facebook comment. that's something that is really

worrying parents i think more than kids. but at the same time, it is definitely a concern for the younger generation. that's always been there. that's not new. bullying is a part of growing up. facebook has worked fairly hard to combat bullying on the site. i think the bigger issue for facebook in term of the cool factor is how much time people are spending on there. how much time kids are spending on the site. are they still enjoying it. are they staying up all night, poking people, remember that? i don't think they're doing that as much as they used to and that is some concern for the site. the fact is that facebook has gotten so big. it has become an essential part of how we use the internet today. and being a site for adults isn't such a bad thing for a business. >> adults make a lot more money than kids. >> big thanks to you. appreciate your time. up next, our top story. egypt in crisis. new fighting erupts between the military backed government and the muslim brotherhood with little sign of compromise.

we are live in cairo. and the national security agency broke its own rules thousands of times. will it bring change no-charge s. check. and here's the kicker... 0% apr for 60 months. and who got it? this guy. and who got it? this guy. and who got it? this guy. that's right... [ male announcer ] it's the car you won't stop talking about. ever. hurry in to the volkswagen best. thing. ever. event. and get 0% apr for 60 months, now until september 3rd. that's the power of german engineering.

♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of craving something that i can't have ♪ ♪ turn around barbara ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪

a good saturday afternoon. here's what's happening right now. egypt on the brink. chaos erupts at a mosque when security forces attack and protesters return fire. we are live in cairo with new calls for a week-long protest. also, bad blood? new efforts to end the government's policy against gay blood donors. meet the california mayor who held a blood drive, even though he couldn't donate and the witness to history. civil rights told through the eyes of a black butler. we'll talk to the author.

we start in egypt. hard to believe that one year after egyptian voters picked a president in what was widely considered its first ever democratic election, any sign of democracy has been replaced with virtual anarchy. more than 800 people have been killed. more than 1,000 arrested by the egyptian military. in the last 72 hours. this after soldiers got the go-ahead to fire on protesters who threatened the new self-imposed government. meanwhile, supporters of the ousted government, the muslim brotherhood, have been forced out of the mosque in cairo where they were holed up for about a day and a half. has today been more peaceful than yesterday's day of rage? certainly if you are looking at deadly confrontations. it has been more calm, programs more peaceful than yesterday.

it is not any less tense. a very tense stand-off taking place outside that mosque where supporters of the ousted president have been holed up through the course of the night and into the early hours of the morning. too afraid to come out because their building had been surrounded by members of the police, security military and a lot of plain clothes residents who are simply opposed to the muslim brotherhood. ultimately the police moved in, firing tear gas. attacking from within the mosque but able to get everyone out there was and the situation now has been somewhat contained. there has been no casualties as a result of that raid on that mosque. >> live for us from cairo. thank you. i want to bring in david road, foreign affairs columnist for reuters, also author of the new book, "beyond war" which examines america's role in a

middle east. and the former ambassador to iraq. now dean at the school of international studies at the university of denver. christopher, let me start with you. how much pressure at this point is the u.s. government putting on the egyptian military? >> i think the u.s. government has signaled that the cancellation of the exercises is just the beginning. that they are going to review other programs, including the substantial assistance amounts that the military gets every year i would caution against the view that somehow the egyptian military is therefore going to change how it is handling this. this is considered a real life and death make or break struggle that has to do with the future of the country. i don't think $1.4 billion is really going to change their attitudes. so i think it is a really tough spot for the obama administration to be in. first of all, we don't know who

will prevail in this. i would not necessarily bet against the military in this. so i think they need to keep their options open. >> this is president obama just a few days ago on vacation at martha's vineyard. >> the united states strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by egypt's interim government and security forces. we deplore violence against civilians. >> so again, as it was just mentioned, the president said that the united states is going to be canceling that planned joint military exercise with jip. you, sir, very critical of the president in your column thursday writing in part, the message that the white house sent to young islamists in egypt this week was clear. what jihadists have been telling but american hypocrisy for years is true. the norms apply over the one but you. participating in elections is pointless, violence is the route to power. what should the president have

done, david? >> i think he should have cut the aid. i think that we're looking at the largest killing of protesters. sorry, one of the largest killings of protesters since the tiananmen square in china in 1989. i'm thinking across the islamic world there is a message here, that when democracy, we don't like the results, when islamist wins it doesn't matter. i fear this will radicalize young people, drive them toward supporting militant groups instead of including them in the political process. >> not just in egypt. you're not just saying this will drive young muslim men in egypt. you think this could perhaps become another rallying cry for muslims to become radicalized all over the globe. >> i'm talking about a very, very small percentage of young men who might do this. but even if it is a small number, it can create catastrophic results across the region.

the muslim brotherhood, and they did a terrible job governing egypt. we've talked about this before. they had reannounced violence. clearly there has been in violence. when president morsi was running just a minute, did not have hundreds of protesters being killed. this is clearly problemating. but they are conservative and religious but they have renounced violence and said they will participate in politics. is this the right way to respond. >> we provide a billion and a half to egypt. it is a lot of money. but saudi arabia which backs the egyptian government's crackdown, $8 billion. kuwait, $4 billion. how much influence can our $1.5 -- how much influence kit even buy? >> i don't think this is with the money right now. i think it is more about the long term relationship. the egyptian military has enjoyed this long term relationship with the united states. so if the money is kurgts it is not just about the money. bits the relationship.

in that sense there is some concern. i have to stress what a fundamental struggle this is right now in egypt. and it goes well beyond any issues of money. i would lake to point out that while i agree with david's point, that there will be a tendency to radicalize islamists throughout the region, the apparent fact the u.s. has supported a military takeover. i think it is important to understand that many countries, as your point suggests, were that very pro muslim brotherhood. this has not just to do with the issue of the saudis being practicing matic. more secular regime in egypt. this has to do with other islamists really not liking the muslim brotherhood for a lot of reasons. and theology is one of them. >> egypt's troubles, they haven't occurred in a vacuum here. it may currently be the most visible image of unrest.

in tunisia, the birth place of the arab spring, there have been political assassinations. dissent continues in libya, it remains in bahrain. the serious civil war that we're not talking about this week. we're talking 60,000 folks who have been killed there in syria at this point. it is drawing neighboring lebanon into the conflict. iraq on the verge of a full scale sectarian war. what does this continuing violence mean for the united states? >> in the u.s. we try to ignore that in the middle east. the problem is europe's economy compensated on middle eastern oil. china's economy depends on middle eastern oil. i don't think the obama approach which is sort of a minimalistic approach, drone strikes, lots of surveillance. that's not working either. we can't stop this bloodshed. we can't control what will

happen in egypt. i think we need to engage more consistently about supporting, you know, moderates of the region. democracy. there are differences between all these countries. would we be saying, people say that the middle east isn't ready for democracy. would anyone say that latin america as a whole isn't ready for democracy? or asia as a whole or would go basis, try to stand by these principles where they exist and again killing 800 protesters is not acceptable. >> thanks to both of you. jackson's children that made her break down. also the mystery from behind the grave. who is this guy named nick beef? we unmask the man behind the jfk mystery and we'll also talk about this. is summer's hottest hit a rip

off? the bold new move that robin thicke is taking up to clear up one big issue. wers... to save money. at truecar.com, we offer our users... guaranteed upfront savings. the result? truecar users save... over $3,000... on average. save time, save money, and never overpay. visit truecar.com humans. even when we cross our "ts" and dot our "i's",

we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness with our auto policies. if you qualify, your rates won't go up due to your first accident. because making mistakes is only human, and so are we. we also offer new car replacement, so if you total your new car, we'll give you the money for a new one. call liberty mutual insurance at... and ask us all about our auto features, like guaranteed repairs, where if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, the repairs are guaranteed for life. so call... to talk with an insurance expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

i'd like to invite you to the state dinner next week. i'll be there, mrs. reagan. no, not as a butler, cecil. i'm inviting you as a guest. >> but the president prefers for me to serve in person. >> don't you worry about ronny. i'll take care of that. >> that was a scene from lee daniels' "the butler" which opens this weekend and details the life of a man who served eight presidents. the story is based on the life of white house butler eugene allen who was first chronicled in 2008 by "the washington post" reporter will haygood.

his book about allen has of course become a "new york times" best seller and came out in conjunction with the movie's release. will joins me live now. good to see you, will. >> thank you very much. >> how did you come to meet and know mr. allen in the first place? >> well, i was covering the 2008 campaign and i wanted to find a figure from the era of segregation because i thought that then senator obama was going to win and i wanted a figure from the back pages of history who had worked in the white house because i thought their story bracketed against the obama victory would be mezmerizing. i launched a nationwide search and just old fashioned shoe leather i finally tracked him down living on a quiet street in washington, d.c. >> and he takes you down to the

basement of his house. >> he did, where there was a phenomenal amount of memorabilia from the eight administrations that he had worked with at 1600 pennsylvania avenue from president harry truman where he first started as a dish washer all the way up to president reagan. so he was in the white house during some of the epic moments in this nation's civil rights history and there were letters to him from each president. there were handwritten notes. beautifully framed. there were photographs of him and various visitors to the white house. him and dr. martin luther king jr. him and sammy davis jr. him and frank sinatra. him and ella fitzgerald. him and don king. it really was an amazing sweep of history through one man's eyes. >> what are some of the differences between the real eugene allen and his depiction in the movie?

>> in the real mr. allen his son did go to vietnam but he survived and the one in the movie, well, i will let movie goers see but i think lee daniels has made a phenomenal movie. >> let's talk a little bit about some of the controversy. there is an op-ed in the grio by javier david that talks about the back lash against the movie. david writes the arguments deployed against the help are now being aimed at oprah winfrey's latest cinematic venture mainly that the movie does a disservice to blacks everywhere by making them appear subservient or diminished in the narrative. what is your take on that? >> nothing could be further from the truth. this is a real -- this is a movie based on a real story. there was a figure who served valiantly at the white house for 34 years and never missed a day of work. he saluted his flag every day of

the year. he is a stitch in the american flag. and a beautiful stitch. just because he had to serve people i do not think we should belittle what he did in any type of manner. he worked. there were jobs in the hotels that just were not open to blacks. jobs as high level butlers. and so, no, he was not on a southern family in some big plantation. he was at the most powerful address in the world. and for many african-american men where the opportunities were limited, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, he certainly couldn't turn his back on such a job opportunity. furthermore he loved his country very much. >> with which president did he have the best relationship do

you think? >> it's really hard to say. yeah. he talked very movingly of each one but there was a moment in his life that stands out. it was president reagan and first lady nancy reagan who had invited mr. allen and his wife helene. he had been married to her by the end of his life for 65 years. they invited him to a state daner. so just look at that. the man who used to serve the champagne now has stepped behind the curtain, in front of the curtain i mean. so he becomes sort of a cinderella moment for him and his wife. he was a guest right along with the ambassadors and the foreign dignitaries, and that was a tribute to his service that the reagans recognized and it was a beautiful moment. >> yes. >> in his life. will haygood thank you so much for introducing us to the real butler. do appreciate your time and we

will be right back. big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger. i missed a payment. aw, shoot. shoot! this is bad. no! we're good! this is your first time missing a payment. and you've got the it card, so we won't hike up your apr for paying late. that's great! it is great! thank you. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness.

glass on floors. daily chores. for the little mishaps you feel use neosporin to help you heal. it kills germs so you heal four days faster. neosporin. use with band-aid brand bandages.

the american red cross is putting on a call for blood donors and it's looking for public health to organize blood drives. mayor evan roe rose to the call but though he could host a blood drive he could not donate himself. he is openly gay and the federal government does not allow gay men to donate blood. mayor loe joins me live now. good to see you, sir. you were asked by the red cross to host this blood drive. did you know before that that you would be ineligible to actually donate your blood? >> sure. i understood as a gay man i would be prohibited from donating blood but my commitment as mayor is for the general welfare of the public so that was my commitment. >> the fda has a questionnaire blood banks use to determine qualified donors. it is a lengthy questionnaire and asks questions about health, questions about lifestyle as

well. this is from that questionnaire. question 24. male donors. have you had sexual contact with another male, even once? what do you think of that question? >> well, certainly i understand the criteria and the policy it is trying to achieve but what we should really focus on is risk and behavior. you could be a heterosexual individual and engaged in president barack oba promiscuous activity and still allowed to donate blood but if you are a homosexual relationship and monogamous you are still banned for life. we should assess and look at rational based scientific criteria used across the board. >> the food and drug administration guidelines that effectively ban blood donations from gay men are clear. men who have had sex with other men at any time since 1977 the beginning of the aids epidemic in this country are currently deferred as blood donors.

this is because msm are as a group at increased risk for hiv, hepatitis b, and certain other infections that can be transmitted by transfusion. that is from the fda. do you think those guidelines themselves, are the guidelines now outdade eoutdated or discri? >> sure. the policy haven't been looked at or updated in over 30 years. if you look at those in support of a repeal of this lifetime ban to at least take a look at the deferral process, the american medical association, american red cross, most recently, over 80 members of the house and senate bipartisan sent a letter to the department of health and human services to look at the policy and to figure out a way to look at the deferral process. in addition, canada and the uk and australia have also updated their policy. i come from silicon valley and so let us adhere to science. we are in 2013. let us use science and not look

at a policy that perpetuates the discrimination and negative stereotypes toward a particular community. >> we reached out to the fda to ask them, re-evaluating the ban, a spokesman said the fda and health and human services are committed to continuously improving safety of the nation's blood supply. fda and hhs continue to re-evaluate the scientific basis for its blood donor deferral policies. the spokesman reiterated that this was a public health issue not a judgment in any way on a donor's sexual orientation. do you, mayor, think that we will see any change in policy soon? >> well, i'm hopeful for the change and certainly we are headed that direction. for those individuals who might want to join the conversation, they can visit change.org/gay blood ban to sign the petition and encourage other members of the community to join in support and create a positive course of action related to this policy.

we know that members of the gay community want to be participating and contributing members of our society and ultimately to save lives. there is currently a blood shortage in the area i live in so let's encourage the opportunity to expand the pool of donors. >> mayor evan loe from california, big thank you to you sir. coming up mystery solved. the man who bought the plot next to lee harvey oswald's grave will join me live. i'll ask him why. at coca-cola we believe in giving people choices. especially today, as people are looking for more low, and no calorie options. that's why on vending machines, we're making it easy for people to know how many calories are in their favorite beverages, before they choose. and we're offering more low calorie options, including over 70 in our innovative coca-cola free-style dispensers. working with our beverage industry and restaurant partners, we're helping provide choices that make sense for everyone. because when people come together, good things happen.

[ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. trusted heartburn relief that goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! ♪ school's out [ male announcer ] from the last day of school, back to the first. they're gonna take a lot of notes. so make sure they've got a notebook for every subject. this week only, get one subject notebooks for a penny. staples has it. staples. that was easy.

you know, from our 4,000 television commercials. yep, there i am with flo. hoo-hoo! watch it! [chuckles] anyhoo, 3 million people switched to me last year, saving an average of $475. [sigh] it feels good to help people save... with great discounts like safe driver, multicar, and multipolicy. so call me today. you'll be glad you did. cannonbox! [splash!] we continue to keep a close eye on cairo where the violence continues there today. earlier today, there was a gun battle outside a mosque where hundreds of muslim brotherhood supporters are holed up. it's just the latest development in 72 hours of blood shed that's left nearly 800 people dead. welcome back to msnbc. i'm craig melvin. here is a quick look at some of

the other top stories making news on a saturday afternoon. a massive wildfire that's spreading in idaho has forced the evacuation of at least 1600 homes. so far that fire has ripped through 92,000 acres, about the size of detroit. more than 800 firefighters are trying to get it under control. shows no signs of slowing down, though. strong winds and low humidity are keeping the flames burning and creating a risk for even more wildfires to break out. meanwhile, in michigan a 12-year-old girl was attacked by a bear while running near her grandfather's house yesterday. abigail weatheral suffered serious cuts, puncture wounds, and bruises. luckily she is in stable condition. doctors say she should be released from the hospital in a few days. meanwhile, the bear is still on the loose. and check this out. that's zach hoskins. he was born without a left forearm. also born without a left hand.

but that has not stopped him from becoming a star basketball player in his hometown of alpharetta, georgia. hoskins got national attention when someone posted a video of him playing on youtube. and now he's been offered a spot as a walk-on at the university of florida. hoskins says he still has not decided if he will be joining the gators, though, when he heads to college next year. let's go out west to los angeles now where the one person connected to michael jackson's life you almost never hear speak spoke out in court this week. jackson's ex-wife debbie rowe took the stand in the wrongful death lawsuit case against aeg entertainment, the company that hired dr. conrad murray to care for the entertainer. rowe, the mother of prince and priss jackson, didn't hold back tears in two emotional days of testimony. joining me live now msnbc legal analyst, nbc news legal analyst lisa bloom who has been following the trial closely for

us. good to see you again. >> hi, craig. how you doing? >> doing well. take us through the testimony here. what did debbie rowe add to the case against aeg and what insight did we gain into jackson's life? >> i think it was a mixed bag. she certainly came off as a very human person after weeks of fairly dry testimony. the jury got to hear about michael jackson as a human being. that after an incident in the mid 1990s he began taking pain medication and especially the medication which led to his death a couple years ago. she talked about paris jackson her daughter, michael jackson's daughter who has become suicidal over the death of her father and that was just a couple months ago. there is no question that the family is devastated by michael jackson's death and that goes to their damages. if aeg is liable for the death of michael jackson because they negligently hired and supervised

conrad murray, then they're going to have to pay damages as a result of his death. economic damages, emotional distress damages. but she really didn't hit on what i think is the primary issue in the case and that is whether aeg is liable. because if you say, look. michael jackson was addicted to pain killers as much as 15, 20 years ago, you know, that's really his responsibility to deal with well before aeg came into the picture. i would expect aeg to argue in closing arguments, look. this is a very sad situation. he was addicted to prescription medications but it's just not our fault. >> that lawsuit was filed of course by katherine jackson and by rowe's two kids with the singer. so does debbie rowe stand to gain anything if aeg is found negligent in the case? >> no. she doesn't. she gave up her parental rights years ago. she talked about that. she testified that, you know, michael jackson after his divorce from lisa presley was devastated and she asked, you know, what is the worst part of it for you? and he said, not being able to

have children. she offered. she said, i will have children with you. and it took them a couple of weeks and finally he said okay. then she had these three children with michael jackson. and she's always sort of maintained that these children were a gift to michael jackson. she relinquished her parental rights. they were his children to raise as a single father. >> you know, a lot of folks have not necessarily been following this case as closely as you and as closely as me. on its face, it does not seem like katherine jackson has much of a case here. is that your takeaway as well so far? >> you know, i think it's a tough case honestly because michael jackson and his people were the ones who hired conrad murray. and oversaw him. aeg did not oversee him on a day-to-day basis. but if the court finds that the -- if the jury finds aeg was responsible and that they negligently supervised him, there is no question that his negligence caused michael jackson's death.

that's already established by a criminal court. you know, aeg is a big company. they could get hit with a big verdict. in my view, i think their strongest argument in closing argument is personal responsibility. michael jackson and his family. >> i want your take on something else. and i'm going to because i know you are familiar with all three of these songs. this controversy surrounding the summer hit "blurred lines" on friday robin thicke, t.i., pharrel filed a lawsuit to head off copy right lawsuits. also a company is claiming the trio illegally sampled their songs for the summer hit. i'll play a snippet from all three and get your take. this is for the three people watching and listening not familiar this is "blurred lines." ♪ i hate them lines i know you want it but you're a good girl yeah the way you want it ♪

>> i hope the folks sent us a check for that nice commercial too. this is folk-a-delics "sexy wings." ♪ dancing ♪ i just want to say that i love your sexy way ♪ >> and there of course is george clinton. and this is marvin gaye's "gotta give it up." here it is. ♪ dancing, ooh, give it up >> all right. so i don't even know how the funk-a-delic folks are making a claim but this last song is there a case here? >> craig, thank you for asking me to talk about this today

because as a legal analyst i am usually talking about murder and racial profiling. >> right. >> all of these horrible, heavy subjects. it is such a pleasure to be able to listen to this music and talk about this story. the bottom line is, copy right infringement requires actual copying whether of the music, whether it's of the lyrics, or both. merely being derivative is not sufficient because frankly most music is derivative. right? most movies are derivative. boy meets girl. conflict. boy and girl get together at the end. that's most movies. so that's not copy rightable. having listened to this it doesn't seem to me i'm hearing a copy right violation. i'm not an expert on music. i haven't compared the notes. i'm not hearing it. i think it is similar, certainly has the same sound but i'm not hearing copy right infringement. >> always appreciate your insight oonl things legal we should note. be well, my friend. >> thanks, craig. coming up it is the commercial that everyone is talking about.

my school bus is my limo. is k-mart's new back-to-school ad, is the ad itself racist? we'll take you to the brain trust next. this is msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] clearly this isn't one of those speed-eating contests. that's a hebrew national hot dog. a kosher hot dog. that means we're extra choosy about the cuts of beef that meet our higher kosher standards. and only a good, old-fashioned slow-motion bite is gonna capture all that kosher delight. and when your hot dog's kosher, that's a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national.

stunning new disclosures this week on the scope of the federal government's electronic surveillance programs. "the washington post" reporting friday the nsa repeatedly broke privacy rules thousands of times. let's take it to the brain trust. lena maxwell, amy holmes anchor of real news and bob franken syndicated columnist for king features in new york city with us in the flesh today. good to see all of you. let me start with you. post report from documents of course leaked to and from edward snowden found that the agency broke these rules thousands of

times. congress, thousands of times since congress gave the nsa these broad powers back in 2008. do we expect that anything is going to come of these, of this revelation other than the temporary outrage that generally subsides? >> i hope so. i don't know that something real and substantive will happen but certainly there needs to be more oversight. with these new documents, they show that the claim that nothing, you know, untoward was happening is not true. so i don't know if the number 2,776 in one single year of infractions is a big number or a small number because we don't know. >> the nsa says small, miniscule. >> right. it could be like 0.1% of the amount of data that they were collecting. we just need more information. >> i was going to say part of "the washington post" report is that the nsa has been so misleading so we don't know. they've misled congress. they've misled the oversight committees in terms of the extent. but this also means the president of the united states

has been misleading because he went on jay leno and said there is no domestic surveillance. >> it took me to my next point. the president from the white house a week before essentially defending the nsa and the practices. do we think the president just did not know what was happening at the nsa or what do we make of the president's claims and what we heard from the nsa just seven days later? >> he has been parcing his words very, very carefully. up to what we could politely call being disingenuous. he said congress is fully briefed on this kind of thing and members of congress have said constantly that when they do go to an intelligence briefing they get really real distortions. all kinds of platitudes without any specifics. what we have is a situation where the nsa has been caught once again and it really gets us to the fundamental issue, which is you have to always word with

the authorities that if they have power there is a potential that they're going to abuse it. >> you know, a very interesting point earlier in the broadcast, we were talking about stop and frisk and he talked about the fourth amendment in general. since becoming one of the forgotten amendments over the past year and a half do we agree with that assessment? is that something that has received bipartisan support that the fourth amendment is under fire more than especially the second amendment which some would argue has become more important than the first? >> absolutely. i think that the nsa scandal is joining the civil liberties left and the civil liberties right to have focus on this. here we are at this desk agreeing. >> amazing. >> save the video. >> it is extraordinarily troubling. another wrinkle to all of this with ed snowden's disclosures was that the nsa was collecting what they called meta data information about verizon phone calls, you know, domestically among american citizens. that also includes congressmen that have blackberries with

verizon programs. there you have the possible conflict of the nsa spying on congress. >> imagine if they were writing the fourth amendment today or if back then they were writing it in an age where you had all of the sophisticated technology. i suspect that even as they deliberated the fourth amendment they probably -- >> to pivot to something that is actually something that is sort of getting my attention earlier this week. we talked about it here on msnbc and some other folks talked about it. this commercial. a few weeks ago on this program we featured a unique after school program in minneapolis. take a listen. take a look. ♪ >> more than 6 million views on youtube so far. but to star in this particular video you have to finish your home work first. so now a group of kids from that

program, they've made a back-to-school commercial for k-mart, a national commercial, and it's a pretty big deal. the ad has drawn some negative comments especially on twitter of course. i think we have a tweet here. black people don't just rap and dance. for k-mart's commercial to represent us in that way is belittling and deplorable. boycott k-mart. another one from a woman named anna gutierrez. k-mart is racially profiling black kids by having them rap about school on a bus. oh, also that took a white girl to even it out. sneaky. then there is this the k-mart commercial with the children rapping makes me cringe. like what are you doing? i won't name names. but that's not just the sentiment expressed by folks we don't know on twitter. there are some friends and colleagues of mine who have expressed a similar sentiment as well. that the portrayal of kids in this commercial plays into certain stereotypes and is

demeaning and belittling. i wanted to get your collective take on that everybody needs to calm down. this commercial is cute. the rapping about school, this is a good thing right? we're not rapping about drugs and women and money. we're rapping about school. so first, that's first. and the second thing is if hoodies and rapping makes you think we're stereo typing black people you either haven't been paying attention for the past 20 years because consumers of hip hop are a majority white. so also, if a hoody means thug to you, then you might have to reflect back on why that is. >> i agree with absolutely everything you said. >> this is unprecedented. >> but i think there is another issue here which is why are we messing it up for these kids? they made a fantastic video. they're obviously talented, adorable. getting a national campaign ad, it is a huge success and accomplishment and we should be applauding these kids. they're rapping about how much they love school. >> beats and rhymes is a great

group. >> how dare they be black? first of all, rap is hardly just a black genre these days. but again, everybody gets totally crazed about anything racial or even the possibility that it's racial. look at the upset everybody had after the cheerios commercial which featured a mixed race couple. >> right. we talked about that here. >> we have a country that, where people, a lot of people need to get a life. >> what did you call it? >> some people just have a permanent sense of outrage. >> absolutely. >> they should be applauding these kids and dancing with them. >> an open invitation for those kids to come back. bob, i personally apologize to you as well. we invite you up and can we show where bob sits? can we break tv rules here? this is bob franken sitting seven feet away from me. we didn't have room at the desk. >> i am having a time-out. >> my apologies, bob. next time we'll let you sit at the big boy table. >> wash my mouth out with soap. >> to my guests, big thanks to

all of you. one of the mysteries surrounding the assassination of john f. kennedy has been solved. that's next.

for years, mysteries have abounded regarding the assassination of john f. kennedy. who is the man whose cemetery plot lies next to that of kennedy assassin lee harvey oswald? well, the owner of the grave stone is very much aboveground. his name is patrick aberdeen. he also goes by nick beef. he is here in the flesh today. let's start with the obvious question. why? >> well, i got to see kennedy the night before he died. my dad was in the air force. my mother took us to the air force base. so on november 21st, i passed by him. i got lost. got on a military policeman's shoulders and there he was with jackie. pretty cool.

the next day i was mr. show and tell. a few hours later the world changed. >> why decide to buy the plot. >>? we moved away. by the time we came back the world had changed. men weren't wearing suits. no gloves. my mother and i used to look at the cemetery. it is a very interesting cemetery. and she would say never forget you saw kennedy the night before he died. i would look at this grave and think of the juxtaposition of all this. how could one man really change history? >> why choose to reveal your identity now after decades of secrecy? >> i kind of let the conspiracies have their fun. i didn't do interviews. i didn't put my real name on there. by this point i had childrenism didn't want my last name, my kids growing up, why are you next to an assassin? i had written under nick beef since 1977. it wasn't a name i made up on the spot. my mother died in 1996. before i got on a plane i said put a marker on that thing. that's when the fun began.

>> of the conspiracy theories you have heard about, which of those have stood out the most to you? >> i'm a deejay. i'm a kgb agent which i would never figure out what is my undercover? being next to oswald, seeing if he says anything? i never acknowledged it. i really came out because i recently put up a website of my work, nick beef.com. i'm not here for a movie or book. that's when "the new york times" contacted me and asked. and i talked to my family and they said why not? >> what has your family said over the years about all this? about the fact that dad has a grave next to lee harvey oswald. >> well, dad is already water to begin with. this is the ice cap. they would see may boring in the streets. i take pictures of tombstones with the names and make haikus out of them. i call them daikus because i have no oungs of creativity. >> that's not weird at all. >> i understand that you actually planned on being

cremated. so what happens to the plot? >> i guess what happens to anybody that dies? it just stays there. if my kids want it or something. at the time i bought it i was 18. like i said, it sat there for 20 years with nothing on it. in that time i decided i wanted to be cremated. >> since all this came out, has someone made you an offer for the plot? >> i don't think i would sell it. it was never done as a joke or a hoax. >> nick beef, thanks for coming by to help us. we really wanted to understand. thank you as well for watching. i'll be back tomorrow starting at 3:00 eastern. first though, "disrupt with karen finney." she is standing by. we'll see you tomorrow. have a great saturday afternoon. ♪

[ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air. [ female announcer ] this week only, save up to $15 on zyrtec® products. see sunday's newspaper.

on zyrtec® products. a quarter million tweeters is beare tweeting. and 900 million dollars are changing hands online. that's why hp built a new kind of server. one that's 80% smaller. uses 89% less energy. and costs 77% less. it's called hp moonshot. and it's giving the internet the room it needs to grow. this&is gonna be big. hp moonshot. it's time to build a better enterprise. together.